


like a star dying

by inqvisitiveintrovert



Category: Guardians of the Galaxy (Movies), Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: F/F, Femslash, its cute so i figured why not, its fluffy and emotional ye be warned, just a tiny little thing i wrote a while ago
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-03
Updated: 2018-06-03
Packaged: 2019-05-17 17:55:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 525
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14836421
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/inqvisitiveintrovert/pseuds/inqvisitiveintrovert
Summary: Nebula wakes up to the startling truth that she is loved.





	like a star dying

Nebula blinked. For a brief moment, she felt her heart seize in panic, her breath catching in her throat as her sleep addled brain struggled to recall where she was. She registered a warm weight beside her- and across her. Nebula let out a breath as her vision focused and her girlfriend’s sleep-heavy arm, strewn across Nebula’s stomach, came into focus. She was in her bed, in her room, on her sister’s ship, beside Mantis. She was safe. 

Nebula breathed slowly, in and out, forcing her heart to slow and her muscles to relax. Getting a good night’s sleep- sleeping peacefully at all, in fact- was foreign to her. Something she was just beginning to get used to. As was having a girlfriend- even just thinking the word made Nebula feel a bit funny in the stomach. Having a girlfriend, sharing a bed with her (sharing so much with her)... it all seemed like something out of a dream. Sometimes Nebula would have to stop and just breath to remind herself that this was all real, that she was alive and living with her sister (who loved her) and her sister’s new family (who were beginning to love her) and her _girlfriend._

Mantis.

Mantis, who _loved_ her. Mantis, who curled her arm protectively around Nebula as if she were precious, who pressed her soft cheek to Nebula’s shoulder and breathed slowly, calmly, unafraid against her skin. 

Nebula smiled. When she was alone like this, just her and Mantis, she didn’t feel afraid to smile, or giggle, or even to cry. Shifting slightly so that she was on her side, Nebula reached up and gently ran her fingers through Mantis’ sleep-mussed hair. She traced the curves of Mantis’ face with her eyes, allowing them to linger where she might not have if Mantis were awake (she had a way of making Nebula feel both incredibly open and painfully shy). Mantis made a quiet grunting sound in her sleep, squeezing Nebula closer with her arm. Nebula felt a tugging deep inside her chest, as if something was unraveling in her ribcage. 

_I love you_ , she thought, with her heart as much as her mind, and she meant it. Oh, she meant it.

“You too.” Nebula stiffened slightly as Mantis mumbled into her shoulder- her empathic abilities must’ve picked up on Nebula’s feelings, even in sleep. With a soft smile of her own, Mantis blinked her dark, beautiful eyes open and gazed up at Nebula from under her long eyelashes. 

“I love you too.” She said, her voice a bit raspy from sleep. She shimmied herself closer to Nebula so that their faces were level with one another, Mantis’ arm retracting slightly so that she could trace gentle circles on Nebula’s hip, humming to herself. The unraveling in Nebula’s chest suddenly felt more like an explosion. Or an implosion. Like a star dying, swallowing up everything around it before scattering the elements to the farthest reaches of the galaxy. An unbecoming and a becoming. 

_Thank you_ , Nebula thought, and Mantis, touching her forehead to Nebula’s and brushing their lips together, seemed to understand what she meant by it.

**Author's Note:**

> boopboop there ya go


End file.
